Ahmad Rahami became interested in terror groups following visit to Afghanistan, Pakistan: father

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NEW YORK — The father of the man charged with setting off bombs in New York and New Jersey said on Friday that he informed the FBI in 2014 about his son’s apparent radicalization.

A picture of Ahmad Khan Rahami, the man believed to be responsible for the explosion in Manhattan on Sept. 17, 2016, and an earlier bombing in New Jersey, is displayed at a news conference at New York City police headquarters two days later. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Mohammad Rahami, father of alleged bomber Ahmad Khan Rahami, told the Associated Press early Friday in a telephone interview that his son underwent a personality change after visiting Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2013.

Speaking in Urdu, Mohammed Rahami said his son’s mind was not that same, that Ahmad had become “bad,” and that he didn’t know what caused it, but he informed the FBI about it.

The elder Rahami said he doesn’t think the FBI took any action against his son at the time. He condemned the bombings and said he and his family were in a state of shock

Ahmad Rahami was interested in terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda and jihadist music, poetry and videos, the father told the New York Times in an interview Thursday.

The FBI says it looked into Rahami after he was accused of stabbing his brother in 2014, but the bureau found nothing then tying him to terrorism.

A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity told the AP that, at the time, Rahami’s father backed off talk of terrorism.